SilentLuminary Reviews

  I had such high hopes for this film, I really did. Genre:  Family/Mystery          Time: 1h 33mins          Director:  Tony Cervone I really thought this was gonna be the sweet origin story these guys deserved finally after all these years. I was wrong, so wrong. This was very much an obvious and shameless, cash grab with tie-ins for characters who share similar vibes.  It does start off okay, somewhat, with how Shaggy and Scoob actually met as kids, which is very sweet and adorable, to be honest. This very quickly turns into the pair meeting the rest of the gang, solving their first mystery, and recreating the classic opening in the film's very gross and boring style of 3D CGI, all in the first 20 mins. Then it all goes horribly wrong. There’s a really misjudged cameo (of the sort where a character has to tell you who it is in dialogue). Spoilers!  It's Simon Cowell... The gang is split up almost immediately after that – and it’s from here on in that we’re constantly bashed

  Genre: Sci-fi/ Thriller          Time: 2hrs          Director: Denis Villeneuve Quick summary: Louise Banks, a linguistics expert, along with her team, must interpret the language of aliens who have come to Earth in a mysterious spaceship. This is a very unique alien film I will tell you that, and I'm so glad it gave a refreshing take on them. The story follows Dr. Louise Banks (played by Amy Adams), a seemingly troubled and lonely professor of language. When alien spacecraft touch down in various locations across the globe, the Army enlists her help in an attempt to decipher the alien race's language. A mathematician named Dr. Ian Donnelly (played by Jeremy Renner) becomes her partner in this mission to try to communicate with these new visitors to figure out why they're here. It's very thought-provoking, the whole film leaves you trying to decipher your own interpretation, and it doesn't come across as a grand Hollywood picture. It gives very muc

  Genre: Action/Superhero          Time: 1 hour 30mins          Director:  Mark Goldblatt Quick summary:  When Frank Castle's family is murdered by criminals, he wages war on crime as a vigilante assassin known only as The Punisher. To kick this off, I'm going to set the bar on how bad this movie is. The punisher doesn't even have his iconic skull symbol.  Dolph Lundgren plays Frank Castle, a cop whose family has been mistakenly murdered by the mafia. Believed to have been killed in the same accident, Frank disappears underground and goes vigilante as The Punisher hell bent on revenge. The plot doesn't really have much to do with The Punisher comics at all far as I can tell. Sure there's Frank Castle's backstory (a very loose backstory though). The kids in the film mostly ruined it for me. It made the film seem like it was undecided whether it wanted to be family-friendly or not. The main problem is that this film is just so boring. Everything about it follows t

  Genre: Drama/sport               Time: 2 hours          Director:  Craig Gillespie Quick Summary: Tonya Harding, a competitive ice skater, rises to fame despite her personal struggles. However, her career begins to go off the rails when her ex-husband re-enters her life. Now, to start with, this is actually based on a real-life event that happened. In 1994, Nancy Kerrigan, a dear friend of Tonya Harding, was attacked after practice at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, in what would become one of the biggest sports scandals in history. The hitman was Shane Stant, who used a 21-inch collapsible baton to strike Kerrigan's right leg. Tonya Harding was unfortunately bundled up in this scandal and this film explores the events leading up to and after it. It starts off as a documentary with little interviews, constantly flicking between people such as Tonya herself, her ex-husband, and Tonya's mother; all with little flicks of dark comedy.  Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) is a very

  Genre: Musical/Comedy              Time: 2h 13min              Director: John Landis Quick summary: When they learn that their childhood orphanage is about to be torn down, brothers Jake and Elwood Blues set out to save it by reuniting their old R & B band for a fundraising performance. This film is absolutely wild! It's pure chaos, but it is very much enjoyable. Jam-packed with funky music, and slapstick humor, it's a joy from start to finish.  John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd are Jake and Elwood Blues, two Chicago petty criminals who thrive on rhythm and blues. In the opening scene, Jake is released from Prison for good behavior. A visit to the Catholic orphanage where they were raised gives the brothers something of value to strive for — the orphanage needs $5000 to pay its taxes or the place will be closed.  Later, in the Triple Rock Baptists Church, the Blues Brothers are zapped by the Spirit. Convinced that they are on a "mission from God," Ja

  Books, music, and no adults Quick summary: Sam, a 12-year-old orphan, falls in love with Suzy, and the two run away to a secluded cove on an island, prompting the entire town to begin a search . Genre: Romance/ Comedy               Time: 1h 33mins          Director: Wes Anderson Wes Anderson movies are always magical and create their own little world and this is one of the cutest ones I have seen.  Suzy, the heroine lives with her large family and Sam the hero, lives in a scout camp. The pair become Very  Good friends and make a plan to run away together away from adults controlling their lives so they can live freely. The pair are very mature for their age, almost appearing in their late 50s, and converse on many topics that seem bizarre for their age. Although, the pair work and seem very natural together. They seem very comfortable with each other and act as if they have lived together for years. They are very serious in their plan, sticking to it very closely almost as if it was

  Quick summary: On returning home from a mental health facility, two sisters find that along with their stepmother, they have to find a way to deal with their late mother's ghost who begins to haunt them. Genre: Horror/Thriller          Time: 1h 55m               Director:   Kim Jee-woon Tension is Always  high throughout this. Two sisters return back to their home after their mother's death to find that their stepmother is Very cold towards them. Though the trio does try to force themselves to get along, which ends up making the tension a lot worse.  One sibling chooses to be very obedient, silent, and reserved becoming very scared of the stepmother (Soo-yeon) , whilst the other always argues and outright refuses to get along with the stepmother (Soo-mi). Although, the stepmother is quite a lot to handle as well, and becomes a lot more estranged and cruel as the film goes on. Now, this isn't really a scary horror at all, it's more to trick you with the surprise ending

  Genre: Romance/ Science fiction  Time: 2h 6 mins  Director: Spike Jonze Quick summary : Theodore Twombly, an introverted writer, buys an Artificial Intelligence system to help him write. However, when he finds out about the AI's ability to learn and adapt, he falls in love with it. I knew from the first opening minute I would absolutely Adore this film and I was 100% correct. Joaquin Phoenix (Playing Theodore Twombly) stares into the camera and declares an undying love for an unknown Romantic partner. You can see how genuine he is, how passionate he is towards them and sit in awe as you listen to him speak so softly and sincerely until you realize that actually, this declaration isn't his and finds out he is writing a letter on someone else's behalf as his job. This film embraces the viewer with melancholy and takes them on one of the most bittersweet journeys I've ever experienced, which has stayed with me for a long while and will stay for a long time. There's

  Genre: Comedy/Music                Time: 1h 34mins                   Director: Penelope Spheeris Quick summary: Wayne and Garth own a public-access TV show and cannot believe their luck when a local station decides to hire them. Soon, they find out that their show is no longer the same. Now, I'm not usually a fan of this type of comedy, but I really enjoyed this one. It's not completely in your face and the dialogue gags are some of my favourites. They're weird and silly enough that you can't help but laugh at them because they are just so bizarre. I really expected this film to be full of gross, dumb jokes but I was actually met with really funny genuine comedy. Don't get me wrong, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey really played up the goofiness of their roles as two teenagers in the 90s who run their own tv show, which gets picked up by a producer who wants to scam them out of their money. One of my favourite running gags was the pair constantly turning and talking